0p0 Chapter 104 The Great Attack Arc 'SSS'
Chapter 104 The Great Attack Arc 'SSS'
The next morning, in Tengu City~
In a tranquil and beautiful flower garden, Mikie and Origami nestled close together.
Origami, abandoning her usual aloof demeanor, smiled gently as if she were facing Shido, placing the delicious dish she had made herself near Mikie's mouth, tenderly feeding the girl.
"Come quickly, Mikie."
Origami gently fed her, and Miki, without thinking, took a bite and swallowed the dish Origami had made, happily muttering to herself:
"Aww~ Origami-senpai's cooking is so delicious~" Miki smacked her lips and gave a thumbs up with a big smile.
"Yes, this is a dish I made with all my heart for Miki."
After hearing this, Miki tilted her head, blinked her big eyes, and carefully pondered Origami's words.
Suddenly, the origami senior in front of her, like a mischievous monkey, shoved her to the ground and then leaped onto her. Mikie's face instantly flushed red, like a ripe apple, and she shyly exclaimed:
"I love Mikie the most..."
Hearing Origami's heartfelt confession, Mikie jumped for joy like a little rabbit, then shouted excitedly at the top of her lungs:
"Me too, Origami-senpai!"
Mikie rushed towards the origami with great joy, only to suddenly realize, oh dear, it was all just a beautiful dream!
"Strange...it's a dream!"
"Eh! This place... where exactly is it... Oh right! I've been staying at Origami-senpai's house since yesterday."
Miki looked around, her face full of embarrassment. I glanced around, and after a while, the girl finally came to her senses and muttered something under her breath.
Miki recalled what happened last night. She excitedly followed Origami-senpai to his house. As soon as she entered the house, she "whooshed" and lay down on his big bed, instantly falling asleep. That speed was faster than the speed of light!
As soon as she thought of these things, Miki's face turned red. Feeling embarrassed, she quickly turned her head away shyly. As a result, she immediately saw her respected origami senior sleeping next to her. Miki's heart suddenly felt like a deer was pounding in her chest.
A moment later, Origami opened her eyes, sprang up from the bed with a "whoosh," did a big spin in the air, and landed steadily on the floor. Then she hurriedly prepared to go out.
Just as Origami was about to leave, she was stopped by Mikie.
"Wait a minute, Origami-senpai!"
"Is there something you need?" Origami slowly turned around and asked with a blank expression.
"Uh... um... I finally get to spend time with Origami-senpai, I... I want to play games with you to get to know you better, is that okay?" Miki's words were full of cute and coquettish charm, which would definitely be irresistible to one of her unknown uncles.
Upon hearing this, Origami hesitated for only a moment before nodding and readily agreeing, so that Mikie could feast her eyes.
Then, Origami started changing clothes: gym clothes, a white office suit, and finally, a maid outfit. Mikie was overjoyed and exclaimed how much she enjoyed it.
"Speaking of which, Origami-senpai, why do you keep maid outfits at home?" Mikie asked, her face full of curiosity.
"Because that's Shido's preference."
After saying that, Origami, dressed in a maid outfit, silently walked towards the toilet door.
"What are you going to do, senior?"
"I'm taking a shower because I'm a little sweaty from playing with you."
"I'm sorry, is that so? Then please take your time washing." After saying that, Miki lowered her head and bowed slightly apologetically.
"What are you talking about? Of course you should take a shower with us too."
"Ah... Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-!"
Without a sense of shame, Origami lifted Mikie up and tried to drag her to the bathroom to take a shower.
"Then... Origami-senpai, why do I need to...?"
At this moment, on the roof of the apartment building, someone was using a telescope-like X-ray vision device to observe Bai Muzhong below.
"Damn, the Klein brothers are really something! I thought it would be painful to be dragged down by you so early in the morning without eating or drinking, right?"
"Slurp~"
"Wow, what a figure! And that blindfold is so stimulating... I don't know where you got that magic contraption for seeing through things, but it's really useful."
Just as Bai Muzhong was talking to himself about taking a bath, Ming, who had just returned from buying breakfast, heard this. At first, he didn't fully understand what the other person meant, and he was instantly stunned, his face showing a blank and helpless expression.
However, just a few seconds later, Ming came to his senses. He stared wide-eyed at Bai Muzhong with a face full of anger.
Immediately afterwards, he raised his right hand without hesitation and struck Bai Muzhong hard on the back of the head with all his might.
"I told you to protect my niece, what the hell are you doing?!"
Bai Mu was finally knocked forward and staggered, dropping the X-ray vision device from his hand.
"Brother Klein, I was wrong. I'll keep a close eye on things. But if we hadn't used our casual domain to block that punch, the ground would have been covered in watermelon juice!" Hyakume said, rubbing his head.
Without a doubt, Ming didn't hold back at all. Normally, the [Black Flame Demon] that Ming wields is at least as heavy as three buildings. Only powerful magicians can normally clash with him. And just now, he was almost completely at his limit when he fought Bai Mu Zhong.
In the room below, after Mikie and Origami had been "happy" in the bathroom for a while, the two of them came out of the bathroom wrapped in bath towels.
The two sat in the living room, and the atmosphere became very comfortable.
"Speaking of which, Origami-senpai, you're really amazing!" Miki Megumi exclaimed, looking at the tidy living room. But then some doubts arose in the girl's mind.
"Speaking of which, where are your relatives, senior? And what was your reason for joining AST, Origami-senpai?"
"My parents were brutally murdered by those utterly despicable spirits, the Flame Beasts, when I was still very young. As for why I joined AST..."
Origami paused for a moment, then, with a touch of sadness, said:
"I underwent training beyond the reach of ordinary people to gain power, and also to avenge the spirits who killed my parents! And to protect the others in this world, so they won't lose their beloved family members like I did..."
As soon as Origami finished speaking, her previously calm face was filled with burning anger and deep hatred.
This intense emotion seemed to ignite the surrounding air, sending chills down one's spine.
Miki, who was standing to the side, witnessed all of this and a wave of indescribable sadness welled up in her heart.
With tears streaming down her face, she quickly walked forward and reached out her trembling hands to tightly grasp the snow-white bath towel on Origami's body.
"Origami-senpai... if you keep going like this, it seems you're really drifting further and further away from me..."
Miki said, her voice choked with emotion. At that moment, she felt as if she were desperately trying to hold onto a friend who was drifting further and further away from her.
Just as Mikie was holding Origami, Ashley was using a listening device to eavesdrop on everything inside the apartment from a park bench near the apartment.
She remained silent, as if recalling a pleasant time.
"Tsk... I've heard such boring information. I originally thought I could get information about 'that thing,' which is why I secretly planted a listening device... But..."
Ashley lowered her head, the still slightly chilly morning wind blowing against her, and no one knew what she was thinking at that moment.
'I understand...'
'Ashley! Ashley!'
That familiar voice echoed in Ashley's subconscious; it was an extremely gentle voice.
Recalling the dark days when she was ostracized by everyone because of her impulsive personality, a wave of bitterness welled up in her heart.
However, at that moment, a warm light pierced through the gloom—the genius girl with dazzling golden hair appeared.
After that, I remember that sunny afternoon when someone mocked the blonde girl. She stood up without hesitation, but was criticized by several people who were jealous of that genius girl.
She sat alone on a park bench, her heart heavy with the pain of isolation.
Suddenly, a graceful figure slowly walked over; it was the girl named Artemisia.
"You're finally out of confinement, Artemisia... Is there something you need?"
"Really~ why do you have to argue with people?" the girl named Artemisia said with a smile, her voice always calm.
Upon hearing this, Ashley turned and said, "It's their fault. They're so weak, yet they dare to complain about others!"
After hearing this, the girl walked behind the bench without saying a word, and before Ashley could react, she pulled her into her arms and continued to smile as she spoke:
"No way, Ashley got into a fight with the teammates who were talking bad about me..."
"Thank you. You argued with the other person because of me, right?" The girl's gentle words reached Ashley's ears.
"what?!"
Ashley's face flushed slightly; perhaps these things were a bit too stimulating for her.
"No...no!! I just hate guys who talk the talk but don't walk the walk!! Heh, don't get me wrong!!"
Artemisia remained unmoved upon hearing this, instead walking around to stand in front of Ashley and continuing to smile, as if the word "tsundere" was written all over Ashley's face.
"Hehehe~ I understand, then I'll take it that way. Let's go eat, Leonora and Sehir are waiting for you."
Artemisia smiled into the light, watching Ashley's receding figure. She scratched her head, thinking that perhaps she hadn't yet acknowledged the so-called friendship back then.
As the flashback ended, Ashley took out a detonator from her pocket. She knew very well that if she couldn't distinguish between enemies and allies, she wouldn't be able to retrieve anything... and right now, there was only one thing she wanted to get back!
"That's... her smile!!!"
Ashley pressed the detonator, and the apartment floor where Origami and Mikie were located exploded instantly with a loud bang, and the upper floors were also destroyed.
Although she didn't know how many people this move would kill, it didn't matter to Ashley right now.
In the aftermath of that devastating explosion, thick smoke and a pungent odor wafted from the apartment building that had been blown up in the distance.
Behind Ashley's recliner, a light brown-haired girl sat quietly in a wheelchair. Her eyes were closed, as if the noise and chaos outside had nothing to do with her.
The young woman, named Cecilia O'Brien, slowly approached in her wheelchair.
"Oh dear, they didn't defend at all. Actually, I'd rather defeat them head-on." Ashley said with some regret upon noticing the newcomer.
"You should also understand that Origami Tobiichi is not an easy opponent to deal with. She is a magician with extremely strong combat power. This is a last resort to save our 'lover'."
"Ok, I know."
Then, an excited smile appeared on the face of the man named Saisir.
"At this rate, we're just one step away from reclaiming Ashcroft."
"After all, in two days, the new manifestation device [Ashcroft] will be delivered to the Tengu settlement base. After successfully trapping Origami Tobiichi... all we need to do next is destroy the final target, and Artemisia can return to us, but..."
As he spoke, Saisir put on his SSS military display device chip, stood up from his wheelchair, and then slowly began to speak:
"Gentlemen, would you like to come out and introduce yourselves?"
"Sehir, where is the enemy!"
Ashley was slightly surprised when she heard this, but because she had been trained in the military, she reacted quickly and immediately put on her disguise.
“Hey, Klein brothers, I told you it would be troublesome. After rescuing those ordinary people, we have to go around to the back of the woods. It’s easy to be spotted.”
“Yeah, it wouldn’t matter to anyone else, but unfortunately… it doesn’t matter to me.” Another cold male voice said.
"Too……"
As soon as she finished speaking, a golden spear radiating light was thrown out from the forest. Ashley quickly dodged to the side, and the golden spear plunged straight into the ground.
"Heh, nothing more than that..."
Before Ashley could finish speaking, she felt a spear pressed against her back, and Hundred Eyes, dressed in a pure white half-body covering display device, was already standing behind her.
"Oh...when!" Ashley's pupils contracted sharply.
"Oh my, Ashley, I've always thought your back looks really good in those tight clothes, and looking closely, it really does!"
Bai Mu made a flippant assessment, but the spear in his hand continued to draw closer.
"Actually, while part of my fame comes from being a great hacker, if you're going to say I'm just a nerdy guy with no skills... then besides Allen, the world's fastest magician and his manifestation device, Cú Chulainn, are here!"
"You are... Hyakume-sensei, wait... how could it be Cú Chulainn? And besides Eren, the fastest in the world..."
"Hey, you got it right! Too bad there's no reward~ If you don't mind, just treat this as an outdoor class."
Ashley quickly realized what was happening and looked to Cecil for help, but when she looked over, she only saw many faint black magic threads surrounding the entire forest.
The tightly connected, seamless silk threads resembled a huge and intricate net, binding Saihir tightly within them.
She struggled desperately, trying to use her powerful domain of freedom to break free from this terrible confinement. However, the moment she reached for the seemingly delicate and fragile threads, a piercing pain instantly struck her.
It turned out that the moment her fingers touched the silk thread, the incredibly sharp thread easily pierced her delicate skin, and blood immediately gushed from the wound, staining the surrounding silk thread red.
"Wow! So you can do more than just use a scalpel!" Bai Mu finally peeked out from behind Ashley, his expression full of surprise.
“When I was learning from my master, I learned about all the surgical instruments she could understand. Although it was a wide variety of things, I was able to do them all.”
Ming also emerged from the shadows of the woods. Because he was wearing colored contact lenses and a suit, he appeared very elegant and slender in front of others, but the threads didn't think so.
Sahir, his face covered in cold sweat, stared at the newcomers and frantically tried to recall the identities of the two people who had come to claim him, but he had never seen them before.
"Who are you! Are you from DEM...?" Cecily was very nervous, but she tried her best to appear calm.
Upon hearing the question, Ming's face remained as cold as ever. He mimicked his master's hunting manner, licking the corner of his mouth slightly.
"Wow, you're so weird!" Bai Mu Zhong retorted precisely.
"Bai Mu Zhong, shut up!"
"okay!"
After their bickering, Ming gave the two of them a cold look.
"Why are you asking me who I am? Well, I'm nobody, just a rather angry uncle."
Upon hearing this, Saisil frowned deeply, pondering to himself.
Her keen senses told her that there seemed to be some subtle yet unsettling commonality between the person standing behind Ashley and the one currently confronting her.
—That was the strong, bloody smell emanating from them.